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- Jul 4, 2012
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So I've heard quite a bit about malo-lactic fermentation in wine (after checking it out a bit on the white labs website). I understand how it is supposed to contribute to aging and smoothness by fermenting certain acids into lactic acid which is much less harsh. In searching this forum, I have found a lot on doing this with standard wine, but very little on this practice with regards to mead.
Why is that? Are there less acids in mead to convert to lactic acid (thus making the MLF less effective)? Has anyone tried this (please report if you have)? One fact I gained from White Labs is that if there is residual sweetness the MLF can ferment the sugar which creates off-flavors...anyone have a guesstimate (or empirically based) SG reading for the amount of sugar one should avoid if using MLF? Like, 0.990 SG would probably be fine, but what about 1.000 or 1.010?
Why is that? Are there less acids in mead to convert to lactic acid (thus making the MLF less effective)? Has anyone tried this (please report if you have)? One fact I gained from White Labs is that if there is residual sweetness the MLF can ferment the sugar which creates off-flavors...anyone have a guesstimate (or empirically based) SG reading for the amount of sugar one should avoid if using MLF? Like, 0.990 SG would probably be fine, but what about 1.000 or 1.010?